26 Aug 2014 It’s Time to Partner With Other Tour Operators in Your Destination

If you’re not already partnering with other tour operators in your destination, you’re losing out.

Why? Because packaged tours are attractive to travelers, especially first-time visitors in your area. In fact, Travel Weekly reported that the percentage of packaged-tour customers who booked through big-box retailers tripled from a year earlier, from 5% to 15%.

So let’s take a closer look at the benefits of packaged tours and how you can start partnering with local operators to offer them.

Why should you offer your services as part of a package?

For your customers, packaged tours offer plenty of benefits:

• Cheaper than booking all the elements themselves.
• Gives all of the responsibility to the tour operator.
• Super convenient because there’s no hassle of contacting all of the different suppliers and arranging bookings.
• If they’re up for going on tour with other travelers, it’s more social.

For you, partnering with other tour operators who offer complementary products is a smart way to reduce your promotion costs while making your package more appealing.

The key concern is quality. How can you make sure that you offer a high quality tour package (besides making sure to partner with only the highest quality operators)?

How can you build a good tour package?

1) Think about what your customers want.

What makes your destination unique? What motivates them to come visit?  You need a distinct theme for your package, be it eco-tourism, relaxation, or adventure-sports. You can even center your package around a particular event that’s taking place in your destination.

Of course, this depends on the target market you choose. Often, senior citizens want very different experiences from backpackers.

Make sure the name you choose for your package perfectly captures the theme of that experience.

2) Decide on the benefit you’re going to offer.

What cost saving or free perk are you giving them?

You will probably have a lot of elements like attractions, accommodations, and other tours that are involved.

They are usually more than happy to partner with you and offer your customers a discounted rate in exchange for the guaranteed business.

3) Make sure it’s a profitable venture.

Every operator involved wants their cut. Factor that into the price of the package so you know it’s sustainable.

For example, you may decide that you only want to offer scheduled departures during the during low season because it’s more profitable for all the operators involved.

What types of tour packages can you offer?

The most popular type of package is one where everything (accommodation, meals, sightseeing, activities, and transport) is included.

Some examples:

Special interest tours. Tours that focus on a special area of interest, like arts, food & wine, or sport, are hugely successful package deals. You can even get an expert to head the tour as a mentor.

Adventure tours. These types of tours are more physical in nature, and typically require a certain level of fitness. Examples include diving, cycling, or rock-climbing trips. So if you’re a diving operator, and there’s another diving operator nearby, package a tour together which includes diving in those different locations.

City tours. These are the kind that take you to historic, religious, and culturally significant places in a destination all in one day. There’s typically a fixed itinerary, with meals included.

Band together to promote your destination!

At the end of the day, your destination is competing with other areas nearby. So instead of competing with other tour operators in your destination, work together to promote it!

The more attractive you can make your destination, the more tourists will flock to it, because there’s so much more to do there.

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Topics distribution, marketing, tour operator